


Bet on Me

by Flowerparrish



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers Tower, Bets & Wagers, Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers Friendship, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Domestic Avengers, M/M, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23747248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flowerparrish/pseuds/Flowerparrish
Summary: Clint stretches and announces he’s heading off to bed. Bucky follows soon after, which he always does after movie nights—he doesn’t like spending this much time surrounded by this many people, needs time to decompress alone after.Or, well, that’s what they’d all assumed.Now, watching he and Clint head off together… Bruce can see the gears in Tony’s brain turning.He pinches the bridge of his nose and takes some deep breaths to ward off the growing annoyance. Then he counts to five, at which point Tony says, “Okay, so, when did Terminator and Birdbrain Number One start dating?”
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton
Comments: 82
Kudos: 290





	1. Bruce POV

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aimline](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aimline/gifts).



> For elynehil (on tumblr); thank you for asking for this awesome prompt. I had so much fun writing this.

Bruce doesn’t even notice it at first.

They’re having movie night, something that doesn’t occur as often as the “once a week” they aim for, because cramming this many people into one room for hours on end takes the kind of scheduling miracle only Pepper Potts can figure out, and even she only manages it once every few weeks.

Bruce thinks it might happen more often if she weren’t also responsible for being the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world. But he keeps that thought to himself, because the last thing he wants is for Tony to start trying to convince Pepper that scheduling Avengers movie nights is more important.

It’s Tony who catches Bruce’s attention, pulling it away from the screen where they’re watching The Princess Bride for the hundredth time, as it’s one of few movies they can all reliably agree on.

Tony is nudging into Steve sitting next to him, trying to gesture subtly and failing. Bruce glances the way Tony’s indicating at the same time as Steve does, and he sees Clint with his arm around Bucky. Bucky, who is neatly snuggled into Clint’s side, curled toward him with his head resting on Clint’s shoulder.

Bruce looks back at Tony and Steve, who has now nudged Sam and indicated. Natasha, sensing everyone’s attention shift, has glanced the most subtly out of everyone yet and looked away again, disinterest written on her face. Whether it’s a genuine or practiced disinterest Bruce doesn’t know—and, he finds, he doesn’t really care.

Clint and Bucky are cuddling: so what?

He turns his attention back to The Princess Bride and figures everyone else will follow suit soon enough. Watching Wesley profess his undying love is way more interesting anyway.

-

That lasts until the end of the movie, when Clint stretches and announces he’s heading off to bed. Bucky follows soon after, which he always does after movie nights—he doesn’t like spending this much time surrounded by this many people, needs time to decompress alone after.

Or, well, that’s what they’d all assumed.

Now, watching he and Clint head off together… Bruce can _see_ the gears in Tony’s brain turning.

He pinches the bridge of his nose and takes some deep breaths to ward off the growing annoyance. Then he counts to five, at which point Tony says, “Okay, so, when did Terminator and Birdbrain Number One start dating?”

“I still resent being labeled Birdbrain Number Two,” Sam shoots back. “But, yeah, what’s up with that?”

“Nothing is going on between them,” Natasha says, voice certain with a deadly undercurrent. Bruce wonders if the deadly part is on purpose. He suspects it is because of the words that follow. “Clint can’t keep secrets from me.”

“Bucky would have told me,” Steve agrees.

“It’s none of our business,” Bruce puts in. He’s not taking a stance one way or the other; Tony, of course, takes that for the interest it isn’t and pounces on Bruce’s statement.

“What do you think, Brucie Bear? Are they dating?”

Bruce sighs. “I don’t care,” he tells Tony, knowing Tony won’t believe him. “They clearly take comfort in each other’s company, which is good for both of them. I don’t have a stake in anything beyond that.”

Tony’s eyes, if possible, sharpen more at Bruce’s words. He has a sinking feeling and is grateful he’s so used to keeping his breathing and heart rate steady that he doesn’t have to count out his next few breaths. He thinks, instead, that his attention should be on whatever stupid thing Tony’s about to say.

Tony doesn’t disappoint. (As if he ever could.)

“Why don’t we place bets?” he asks, and Bruce thinks back over what he’d said. A stake in it. _Oh._ Oh, no.

“Tony, no—” Bruce starts, but it’s no use.

“I’m in,” Sam is already saying.

“We shouldn’t bet on our teammates,” Steve says, as if he hasn’t started many a bet on his teammates before this. It’s a weak argument, and Tony will have him persuaded soon.

“Thor’s on Asgard,” Tony is continuing, “should we contact him and ask if he wants to join? You think Jane can reach him?”

Bruce looks to Natasha for help. She’s frowning slightly, though, because she’s never met a challenge she didn’t need to win.

“What are the rules?” Bruce asks, resigned.

Tony holds up one finger as if to signal the first rule. “No asking outright.”

“But—” Steve starts.

“No,” Natasha says. “Tony’s right. If they tell us, that’s one thing, but if we ask then we could skew the results in our favor.”

“Is the challenge to pinpoint when they started dating, if they’re already dating, or when they start dating in the future?” Sam asks.

Tony hums thoughtfully. “All of that,” he decides. “If you think they’re already dating, say since when. If you think they’re not dating, say if you think they will and if so, when. We’ll have a payout for those who are right on the are they or aren’t they, and we’ll have a payout if someone gets the correct general time frame, too.”

Everyone is nodding like this is reasonable.

“Guys,” Bruce says after a few moments. “Don’t you think this is…” He doesn’t have the right words. Kind of a dick move? It’s not like they care, they’re all dicks. And Bucky and Clint have been part of bets before, so they should be able to handle being the center of a bet for once.

Bruce doesn’t know why it feels bad.

He also doesn’t see a way to get out of it.

So he sighs and says, “I’ll take ‘tomorrow’ as my bet.”

Everyone starts clamoring with their bets, and Bruce doesn’t pay them any more attention. Instead, he gets up and quietly leaves while they’re all distracted, heading to the kitchen for some chai tea before bed.

-

The next morning, Bruce heads to the kitchen to make more tea before heading down to the lab. He finds Bucky slicing fruit with a knife that was absolutely not made for that purpose and feeding pieces to Clint, who has his eyes closed and is trying to guess what each of them is.

Bruce freezes for a moment, taking in the sight, trying to figure out what to do.

Leaving them alone is the obvious answer. Like he’d said the night before, he doesn’t really care if they’re dating or not, and he may be a part of the bet, but that was just to get everyone to leave him alone. He doesn’t have a true stake in this; losing money is a small price to pay for being left alone by the team’s antics.

But he also feels like he should say something… especially when Bucky looks up and catches sight of him.

“Good morning,” is what tumbles out of Bruce’s mouth, and then, “everyone thinks you’re dating.”

It’s not asking. He hasn’t technically broken the rules. He’s just stated a fact.

Clint opens his eyes and turns to look at Bruce. “There a bet?” 

Bruce nods.

Clint turns to look at Bucky and they have a silent communication with their eyes. It looks intense, but after a few moments, it’s over.

Clint stands and leaves, Bucky following him out. He reaches out to gently squeeze Bruce’s shoulder as he passes, a silent “thanks.”

Bruce blinks down at his empty tea mug and thinks, _what just happened?_

Then he remembers that he doesn’t care, and he sets about making tea.


	2. Sam & Natasha POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint, Natasha muses, didn’t let her touch his bow for seven years. She held his intestines in place sooner than she held his bow.
> 
> Bucky Barnes has not, to the best of her knowledge, ever held Clint’s intestines in place.
> 
> So…

A few days later, Sam and Bucky are sat on a couple of beanbag chairs in front of Stark’s ridiculously large TV playing Mario Kart. It’s best of five and they’re on two, Bucky having won the first.

He’s in the lead to win the second, shit-talking Sam like a pro and taking Sam’s insults in return unperturbed.

“Barton,” Sam calls to Clint, who’s lounging on the couch behind them fiddling with his phone. “I’ll pay you twenty dollars to figure out a way to make Barnes lose.”

“Twenty-five,” Clint shoots back, not even looking away from his phone.

Sam briefly overtakes Bucky in first, and then seconds later Bucky hits him with a green shell. “Fuck!” Sam curses. “Fine, whatever, Barton, twenty-five.”

He glances back and sees Clint shrug, putting his phone back into the pocket of his sweatpants.

Sam looks back at the screen as his half resumes gameplay, so he only notices Clint has moved when Bucky’s Luigi avatar swerves for a moment on screen.

Sam risks a glance over to see that Clint’s draped himself over Bucky’s back and is whispering in his ear. Sam expects Bucky to shove Clint away.

He _doesn’t_ expect Bucky to nod, toss the controller aside, and stand, Clint dangling from his back. One of Bucky's arms goes to supporting Clint’s legs around his waist, and with the other he salutes Sam lazily before leaving the room.

Which… Sam wins. Of course he does. It’s still a win even if Bucky forfeited, and he’s taking it.

But also… _what the fuck._

-

He texts everyone to say what he’s seen.

**Tony Stark** : but what did Barton say?

**Sam Wilson:** I don’t know

**Natasha R:** It’s not definitive, Clint would do the same to me

**Sam Wilson:** Admitting Clint likes Bucky as much as he likes you?

**Natasha R:** I’m not threatened and you can’t goad me into agreeing with you 😈

**Steve Rogers:** I have to agree with Nat

**Steve Rogers:** I don’t think anything is going on

**Tony Stark:** I have to give it to them, it’s not definitive proof.

**Bruce Banner** is typing…

**Sam Wilson:** C’mon, Banner, you’re with me, right?

**Bruce Banner:** still not involved, accidentally pressed space and my phone thought I cared

**Sam Wilson:** you placed a bet!!!!

**Bruce Banner:** under duress. Idc. Sure. They’re dating. Leave me out of it.

**Tony Stark:** three against two say it’s not definitive enough. Better luck next time, Birdbrain Number Two.

**Sam Wilson:** I hate you all.

-

Natasha is heading onto the range, which she notices as she steps in is already occupied. Barnes is lounging against the wall, watching Clint, eyes intent. Clint is shooting his bow, testing out new arrows Tony made up for him over the long weekend.

He turns to Barnes and asks, “What do you think?”

“You’re off a hundredth of an inch,” Barnes tells him. “They lean left.”

“Damn,” Clint curses, turning back to the targets. He studies them and sighs. “You’re right.”

Natasha is impressed. Clint never trusts anyone’s eyes over his own.

But then Barnes asks, “Mind if I give it a shot? My aim is worse, so we’ll really be able to see if I’m right.”

Clint hesitates for a moment and then shrugs. “Sure,” he says, offering Bucky his bow.

Clint. _Offering Bucky his bow._

Natasha slips out the door she’d been holding open, letting it shut silently behind her.

Clint, she muses, didn’t let her touch his bow for _seven years._ She held his intestines in place sooner than she held his bow.

Bucky Barnes has not, to the best of her knowledge, ever held Clint’s intestines in place.

So…

She pulls out the phone and texts, _Okay, I agree with Bruce and Sam. They’re a thing. We’ve got to find out when._

Natasha decides to spend every opportunity watching them in the future. Not at all because she wants to glare daggers into the back of Clint’s skull because _he didn’t tell her._

No, just to gather information. It’s for the bet. That’s all.

(She doesn’t even believe herself. But then, she’s always been better at lying to everyone around her than she is at lying to herself. She knows all of her own tells.)


	3. Tony POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce Banner: you could just ask
> 
> Tony Stark: THAT IS AGAINST THE RULES
> 
> Bruce Banner: ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Tony remains unconvinced that Clint and Bucky are already dating – that they have been all along. He agrees that there’s something going on between them, but he placed his bet on three weeks after the movie night that started this all, because he honestly doesn’t think either of them is emotionally literate enough to share their feelings before then. Instead, he bets they’re in a will-they-or-won’t-they dance, one that Tony and the rest now have a vested interest in documenting.

“Jarvis,” Tony asks one day as he’s soldering. “Where’s Barnes?”

“In the gym.”

“And where’s Clint?”

“Also in the gym.”

“And what are they doing?”

“Sparring.”

“Take a note. New file. Date and time and activity. Personal server.”

There’s a long silence, longer than the millisecond it would take Jarvis to complete the task. He sounds disparaging when he says, “I have done so.”

What’s that about? It’s nothing Tony couldn’t have figured out if he’d gone upstairs.

“Hey, J?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Are Clint and Bucky dating?”

“I believe that to disclose such information would be against my privacy protocols.”

Tony nods. “Okay, yeah, sure. But I wrote those protocols, so…”

“You wrote them so that even you may not override them,” Jarvis tells him. “So no, I will not be disclosing information of such a personal nature. Sir.”

“So bitchy,” Tony says. “I don’t need your help anyway. I’ll figure this out.”

“You’re about to cause an explosion,” Jarvis says then, and Tony focuses again.

“Fuck!”

-

He doesn’t cause an explosion. It’s all fine.

He does forget to spy more on Barton and Barnes for a few days.

It’s a busy few days.

-

The busy few days end, though, and Tony’s determination to get to the bottom of this is renewed.

Mostly because it’s his week to win.

He starts spending a lot of time in the common spaces of the tower: the gym, the lounge, the rec room, the kitchen.

One morning, he sees Bucky make a cup of coffee but not drink it, instead waiting five minutes until Clint appears. Then he interrupts Clint’s zombie shuffle for the coffee pot with the still warm and steaming cup, which Tony realizes all at once is prepared the way _Clint_ likes, not the way Bucky drinks it.

Clint takes a sip and moans indecently. “I could kiss you,” he says to Bucky, and Tony’s eyes bulge.

“You gonna?” Bucky asks.

Clint shrugs. “Maybe when this is done.”

Tony waits around.

Clint doesn’t kiss Bucky on the mouth, but he does drop a kiss to the top of Bucky’s head as he passes by where Bucky’s sitting at the island as Clint goes to get his second cup. “Thanks,” Clint says, so soft Tony almost doesn’t hear.

He pulls out his phone and summons a group meeting.

-

Bruce video calls instead of coming in person, but everyone else shows up. Tony recounts the morning’s events.

“Sharing caffeine is practically Clint’s love language,” Sam points out. “Barnes is smart if that’s how he’s flirting.”

“Sharing caffeine should be everyone’s love language,” Tony says. “But, yes, it was all very romantic. So: I win, right?”

Natasha raises her eyebrows. “ _Did_ Clint kiss him?” she asks.

“Noooooooooo,” Tony admits, drawing out the syllables like if he keeps going, she’ll eventually forget where the word started and what it means.

Steve crosses his arms. “It sounds like Bucky thoughtfully made Clint coffee,” he points out. “He’s done similar for me. That’s not proof of anything.”

“How did he know when Clint would be coming into the kitchen?” Tony demands. “Your schedule is so routine that everyone knows it. It’s a wonder you haven’t been kidnapped on your morning run. Clint’s erratic as fuck. How could Barnes have known if they hadn’t been together?”

Sam looks considering. Natasha looks blank. Steve looks dubious. “That’s a lot of speculation and not much evidence,” Steve says. “I’m not convinced.”

“It is kinda weak,” Sam admits. “I’m on team They’re Totally Dating, but even I’m not sure this is proof enough.”

Tony throws up his hands. “Bruce?”

“Hmmm?”

“Say yes.”

“No.”

“You weren’t even listening!”

“I still don’t agree,” Bruce says calmly. “Bye.” And his video call hangs up.

Tony huffs. “Fine. Whatever. You want proof? I’ll get proof.”

“You do that,” Steve says, and he has the gall to sound _amused_ and _skeptical._

Tony hates him.

-

Tony may hate Steve right now, but he hates himself more than he could ever hate Steve. Not, he will defend, for the level he has stooped to. He has no regrets about crawling around in the vents to win a bet.

He does, however, regret crawling around the vents _in general._ Why does Clint do this? Tony _hates_ it.

Clint and Bucky leave the gym, and Tony groans. “Jarvis,” he whispers into his watch. “Where are they headed?”

“I believe they said something about heading to the living room.”

“Fuck,” Tony whispers. “Okay. How do I get there through the vents?”

He spends the next twenty minutes crawling on Jarvis’ directions.

It’s not until he passes a corner and sees a piece of fabric that he realizes is _his own torn sleeve_ that he starts to consider maybe he’s been going in circles.

But… no. That’s not possible, is it? Jarvis would never do that to him… right?

“Jarvis,” Tony huffs into the watch, because his breathing is uneven and rough. He’s in shape; he pilots the Iron Man armor, and that takes a degree of muscle and agility. But this? This is ridiculous.

“Yes, sir?”

“Are you taking me on the most direct route to the lounge?”

“You did not ask for the most direct route, sir.”

“Jarvis.”

“Yes?”

“I hate you.”

-

It’s all worth it, though, when Tony makes it to the vent over the lounge in time to see Clint lean in and kiss Bucky softly. It’s not a direct kiss, more a press of lips to the corner of his mouth… but that’s _proof,_ right?

Tony almost crows aloud, but he remembers at the last moment just how bad of an idea that is.

Instead, he beats as hasty of a retreat as he can moving backward through an air vent. Fuck, this was so worth it.

-

**Steve Rogers:** Are you sure?

**Tony Stark:** YES

**Steve Rogers:** That is pretty definitive. How did Bucky react?

**Tony Stark:** he SMILED

**Sam Wilson:** good going Stark. Now we just gotta find out when they hooked up the first time.

**Natasha Romanov:** I’m on it

**Steve Rogers:** no, let me.

**Bruce Banner:** you could just ask

**Tony Stark:** THAT IS AGAINST THE RULES

**Bruce Banner:** ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	4. Steve & Thor POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Thor!” Clint bounces up and runs to Thor, vaulting into Thor’s arms. Thor spins him around as he knows Clint wants, and Clint laughs joyfully. “I’ve missed you, big guy.”
> 
> “And I you,” Thor replies before setting Clint down.
> 
> He notices that Barnes eyes have been following their movements; he does not look angry, but he does look focused. He is clearly cataloging the ways in which Clint and Thor touch.
> 
> Interesting. That’s new since the last time Thor was here.

Steve finds Bucky eating strawberries in the kitchen in the early afternoon the next day. He studies Bucky and notices a faint, dark mark on his neck. It’s not a bruise; more like the hint of a bruise, maybe? Or it could just be the light.

Maybe Steve’s being suspicious of nothing.

“Hey Buck,” Steve says, trying for calm. Collected. Normal.

“Hey Stevie,” Bucky replies before popping more strawberries into his mouth. He chews, swallows, and offers the bowl to Steve. “Want some?”

“Uh, no thanks,” Steve says, turning to dig through the fridge instead. He comes out with some baby carrots and grabs a handful to snack on, an excuse for his presence here. Steve likes carrots; he can’t quite make himself forget trying to eat them to improve his vision when he was small and sickly as a kid.

Bucky just hums and nods, popping more strawberries in his mouth.

“Hey, uh…” Steve trails off.

Bucky raises his eyebrows, silently questioning.

“I just… you know you can tell me anything, right Buck?”

Bucky tilts his head. “Of course,” he says. “Why?”

Steve shrugs, nonchalant in a practiced way. “Just making sure.”

Bucky smiles. “I know I can tell you anything. Just like you can tell me anything, right?”

Steve nods. “Exactly.”

He finishes his carrots, and Bucky finishes his strawberries. Neither of them says anything more.

It’s the most uncomfortable silence Steve has shared with Bucky in over a year.

When he leaves, he can’t help but feel he’s leaving chastened, as if he’s a dog with his tail between his legs.

-

Thor returns to Avengers Tower on a rainy spring day. There’s already thunder and lightning, so no one realizes he has shown up until he appears in the lounge in sweatpants and a tight shirt that proclaims he ran a “5k Heroes Run.”

That had been an enjoyable day, supporting other runners and helping encourage them to the finish. Jane had taken the day off to run with him, and she had performed admirably.

They placed close to the end—but they completed it, which Darcy had said she didn’t think Jane could do. Thor is, as ever, impressed with Jane’s fortitude.

“My friends!”

“Thor!” Clint bounces up and runs to Thor, vaulting into Thor’s arms. Thor spins him around as he knows Clint wants, and Clint laughs joyfully. “I’ve missed you, big guy.”

“And I you,” Thor replies before setting Clint down.

He notices that Barnes eyes have been following their movements; he does not look angry, but he does look focused. He is clearly cataloging the ways in which Clint and Thor touch.

Interesting. That’s new since the last time Thor was here.

Still, he is distracted by Natasha’s approach, and Clint slips away and back to his seat next to Bucky Barnes.

Thor makes a mental note to watch the two of them, to make sure that he is correct in what he thinks he sees before he comments.

-

He is not wrong. In fact, he walks in on Clint and Bucky kissing not two days later, the two of them not even noticing that Thor has entered the room.

Thor clears his throat, and they spring apart.

Clint grins easily at Thor when he sees him, though, and even Barnes does not look upset. Instead, he’s smiling softly, his cheeks a little flushed. It’s the happiest Thor has seen him since he came to live with them.

“My friends! I must offer you my congratulations! How long have you two been seeing one another?” He’s pretty sure he said that correctly; he is, finally, beginning to pick up on modern phrasings.

Clint shrugs. “Oh, uh, a few weeks.”

Natasha appears as if summoned, moving past Thor to cross her arms and glare at Clint. “ _Weeks?_ And you didn’t tell me?”

Clint’s grin looks strained now. “Well, no. But—”

Tony comes tumbling out of the vents. “I need a specific day,” he says. “Weeks won’t do it.”

Bucky studies him with disdain clear in his eyes. “For your bet?”

Tony blanches a bit. “What? No. I don’t know what you—I mean, how could you ever—I resent that accusation—”

Sam and Steve walk in; Steve looks somewhat miserable, and Sam looks too pleased. “Yes,” he says. “For our bet. Mind sharing?”

Clint shrugs. “I mean, sure,” he says, and Bucky moves to cover Clint’s mouth. Clint glowers at him and Thor is fairly certain Clint licks Barnes’ palm. Barnes does not move his hand; he appears not to mind.

It is clear from the rest of Clint’s expression that he is now pouting.

Thor volunteers, “I am confused. What is this bet you speak of?” _And_ , he thinks to himself, _why wasn’t I involved?_

Banner walks in and leans against Thor briefly. Thor has barely seen him since he returned; Banner has been spending long hours in his lab. He’s here now, though, and says in his quiet, even tone, “There’s been a bet going on about whether or not Clint and Bucky were dating, and if so, when they started.”

Barnes releases Clint and wipes his palm off on his jeans. “We’ve been dating the whole time,” he says.

“We-ell,” Clint drawls. “Not the _whole_ time. Who had a bet on the day after you guys started the bet?”

“How do you know when it started?” Tony demands suspiciously.

“I told them,” Bruce says tiredly.

“You _what?”_

Bruce shrugs. “I didn’t ask them if they were dating. I just told them there was a bet going on.”

Clint nods. “Helped us figure out we were on the same page. We started dating officially less than an hour after Bruce mentioned it. We’ve just been fucking with you guys ever since.”

Bucky’s arms are crossed and he is currently glowering in Steve’s direction.

“It was for fun?” Steve offers hesitantly.

“You’re an ass,” Bucky tells him flatly. After a few moments of Steve’s wide-eyed, sad expression, Bucky sighs and his shoulders slump. “But you always have been. Whatever.”

Clint shrugs. “I got a boyfriend out of this. I’m not mad.”

“You _lied_ to me,” Natasha points out.

“You bet against me,” Clint shoots back.

She stares him down for a few moments.

Clint shrugs.

She shrugs in return.

“Bruce wins,” Sam says. “He didn’t break the rules, and he guessed it all correctly.”

Bruce blinks, leaning against Thor once more. “What? But I don’t want to win.”

Clint laughs. “You deserve it,” he says. “I’ll even pitch in as a thank you.”

“I won’t,” Bucky says, but his lips are quirking up in a small smile. “This is what you all deserve anyway.”

Thor doesn’t understand this batch of crazy humans. But oh, how he has missed them.

**The End**


End file.
